Syracuse University has suspended 23 students following a large on-campus gathering, the latest example of college crackdowns on the kind of socializing that can spread the coronavirus and sink plans for in-person learning this semester.Syracuse officials announced the disciplinary action late Thursday and said they were reviewing security camera footage to identify additional students seen…
Parents Who Fought Admissions Scandal Charges Are Sentenced
The high-profile faces of a college admissions scandal – a Hollywood actor and her fashion designer husband – have been sentenced to two and five months, respectively, in prison after pleading guilty of bribing their daughters’ way into prestigious schools. Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli were sentenced after a judge accepted their plea deal in federal…
US Universities Roll Out COVID Spit Tests
A recently approved rapid saliva test for COVID-19 is already being used on college campuses across the United States. Also called spit tests, they produce results in less than 24 hours, cost about $10, and are less invasive than the standard swab that is placed deep into the nose.Faster, Easier COVID-19 Test Approved as US Testing…
Trump: Closing Colleges Amid Outbreaks ‘Could Cost Lives’
President Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted universities that have canceled in-person classes amid coronavirus outbreaks, saying the move could ultimately cost lives rather than saving them.Raising the issue at a White House news briefing, Trump said the virus is akin to the seasonal flu for college students and that students pose a greater safety threat…
Med Students Lose Empathy After Second Year, Study Finds
While medical school students gain key healing skills as their education progresses, one important quality seems to wane: empathy.According to a study from FILE – Medical students hug during a demonstration, June 5, 2020, in Salt Lake City, Utah.DOs are fully licensed physicians who practice in all areas of medicine, according to the American Association…
University of North Carolina Cancels In-Person Classes After COVID Outbreak
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of the largest schools in the U.S., is canceling all in-person classes after an outbreak of COVID-19. The sudden change to remote learning comes a week after classes began for the fall semester. The school had instituted remote learning for most classes in March during the…
Western Culture a Challenge for Some Foreign Students in US, Study Finds
For international students at universities in the United States, one factor stands out in the social divide between them and their domestic peers: self-esteem. Psychologist Wendy Quinton, at the State University of New York at Buffalo, researched what many international students dread when arriving on U.S. campuses. “Cultivating close contact with members of…
COVID-19 Infections Rising Among Young People on US University Campuses
Reports of COVID-19 cases are growing on university campuses as schools reopen for the fall semester.FILE – People remove belongings on campus at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., March 18, 2020.Oklahoma State University announced Aug. 15 there were Patrons stand on the Bear Trap’s rooftop bar on The Strip, the University…
Climate Activists, Traditionalists Square Off in Harvard Alumni Board Vote
A Harvard University board election pits proponents of two popular causes against each other: those focused on climate change and those who want to keep money and what they describe as special interests out of the contest.Votes are due Tuesday for five open seats on the Harvard University Board of Overseers, a 30-member alumni body…
Feds Urge Judge to OK Prison Deals for Loughlin, Giannulli
Federal prosecutors urged a judge Monday to accept deals that call for “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin to spend two months in prison and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, to serve five months for paying half a million dollars to bribe their daughters’ way into college. Ahead of the famous couple’s scheduled sentencing hearings Friday,…
Students Call for Radical Changes to Thailand Government
Thousands of protesters called for radical changes to the Thai government Sunday — the latest in near daily protests lead by students against the government.Bangkok police estimated 10,000 attendees, which would make the demonstration the largest Thailand has seen since the 2014 coup. Student leaders are demanding new elections to form a new parliament, including the dismissal…
Students Protest Tuition Hikes as Universities Continue Online
Most U.S. universities are returning to online learning in their fall schedules as the coronavirus pandemic continues, and students are challenging paying full tuition. Many universities are operating hybrid models — combining courses in person and courses online — while others are remaining online only for the 2020-2021 academic year. As of July 29, 23.5%…
High-Schoolers Arrange Free Tutoring for Hundreds
Two high-school students — one a Boy Scout — have created a free, online tutoring service for students during the COVID pandemic. Manan ShahManan Shah, 16, a high-school senior and Boy Scout from New Jersey, saw many students struggling with online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and created a system to help them. “We still realized…
US Classifies Confucius Institute Center as Foreign Mission
The United States announced Thursday that it would require the center that runs the Confucius Institute to register as a foreign mission of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, alleging the group’s Chinese language courses are part of a widespread campaign of influence and propaganda in the U.S.In a statement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo presented…
Feds: Yale Discriminates Against Asian, White Applicants
A Justice Department investigation has found Yale University is illegally discriminating against Asian American and white applicants, in violation of federal civil rights law, officials said Thursday. Yale denied the allegation, calling it “meritless” and “hasty.” The findings detailed in a letter to the college’s attorneys Thursday mark the latest action by the Trump administration aimed…
Over Half of US Lower Schools to Stay Online
Over half of U.S. public elementary and secondary school students will study online this fall, according to new research.In addition to the 52% of students learning online, 44% will attend school in person on partial schedules, such as rotating days. Four percent of school districts remain undecided, according to a survey by Burbio, a data…
Screen College Students for COVID Every 2 Days, Researchers Advise
U.S.-based colleges and universities continue to struggle with how they will receive students while containing the spread of COVID-19. Nearly 40% of schools say they will bring students back to campus, according to the FILE – A student takes classes online with his companions using the Zoom app at home.Researchers say schools would have to…
No Parties, No Trips, No Outside Guests Allowed
As they struggle to salvage some semblance of a campus experience this fall, U.S. colleges are requiring promises from students to help contain the coronavirus — no keg parties, no long road trips and no outside guests on campus. No kidding. Administrators warn that failure to wear masks, practice social distancing and avoid mass gatherings…
College Leaders Talk While Football Players Push to Play
After the Power Five conference commissioners met Sunday to discuss mounting concern about whether a college football season can be played in a pandemic, players took to social media to urge leaders to let them play.Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said no decisions on the season have been made, but conceded the outlook has not…
COVID Threatens Small Colleges, Small Towns
There’s a lot riding on a kickoff set for 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12. The Sterling College Warriors are scheduled to take on the McPherson College Bulldogs at home. If that familiar thud of shoe against football and cheer from the stands doesn’t happen, the college that keeps the central Kansas town’s economy humming, that gives…
Liberty University President Taking Leave of Absence
Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University in Virginia, will be taking an indefinite leave of absence, the university announced Friday afternoon.The executive committee of Liberty’s board of trustees met Friday and requested that Falwell take the leave, to which he agreed. The university statement said it would be “effective immediately.”Falwell has been president since…
Liberty University President Apologizes for Photo
The president of Liberty University in Virginia has apologized for a recent photo posted on social media in which his pants are unzipped. Talking with local radio station WLNI 105.9 Lynchburg, Jerry Falwell Jr. gave an explanation for the photo in which his arm is around a woman whose pants are also unzipped, and he holds…